A New Kind of Animal
by Dragonladylewis
Summary: Season 6? Sam is missing & Dean has been hunting with Alex, a woman & Ex-Special Forces hunter. A werewolf hunt turns when Dean is bitten by a werewolf that doesn't transform. It's a race against the moon to save them. Can they do it? At what price?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The bite on his calf burns and itches, it feels like little bugs crawling under his skin. It looked to him like it was beginning to heal up, it looked nice and clean, the scab was already drying up but he knew better. He knew things were going to get a really ugly, really soon. The moon was already beginning to start its next cycle. Dean glanced over to Alex who sat beside him in the Impala and slowly pressed down on the accelerator. She never glanced up from the laptop.

"Do you miss Bobby that much? Paula's going to be red-lining and overheating if you keep pushing her."

Dean glanced over at her again, surprised at how attuned to her surrounding she was. She still managed to surprise him, even though they had been hunting together for almost a year. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, then she stopped and looked up at him.

She knew something was bothering him, she could feel him, he was completely jittery, like his skin wouldn't fit, like he had about seven double espressos in an hour. His leg tapped on the floor, his fingers tapped on the tables, he paced around the room. Even now, his fingers tapped on the steering wheel. Normally when driving to Bobby's he was relaxed, even when they were hurrying for help he always seemed to be relaxed behind the wheel. For the past week the jitters had him, and had him bad, and it scared her. Nothing scared Alex, she had fought her way through the apocalypse alone, she had faced demons, angels, vampires, everything he had, alone, and survived. She had been surprised a couple of times, and startled plenty of times, god dammed partridges would fly up all the sudden in front of her back in Canada all the time and startle the hell out of her. Afraid, no. Soldiers who were afraid died on the battlefield. She'd seen her best buds freeze up in fear, and seconds later be face down in the dirt, dying. She was scared now.

"What? Why are you staring at me?"

Alex jerked back to the present and found him looking at her, he glanced back to the road ahead of them, then back to her. Alex had been avoiding asking, but he was really starting to worry her. She stared at the laptop screen in front of her.

"Something's...different...you're not yourself. You're jittery. Way too jittery."

She waited, staring at the screen, her stomach flipped and she glanced over at him. He didn't reply, he just stared out the windshield onto the dark road, the little muscle in his jaw worked a little. She knew he was trying to decide if he was going to lie to her or not, she knew as sure as the sun was bright, he was trying to figure out if he was going to lie to her. Alex stomach dropped to the floor when he jerked the car off onto the gravel shoulder and pulled up to a stop.

His hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough to make his knuckles white; he swallowed and kept looking out the window. He couldn't lie to her, the first thing he thought of doing was lying, automatic reaction, make a story, keep it simple, look the girls in the eye and smile. She wasn't a just girl, she was Alex, the one person in the world who knew everything about him and loved him anyway. How the hell was he going to tell her this, she'd be pissed that he kept it from her this long. She'd leave him.

"Alex..." his throat closed shut. How do you tell the person you love you're going to turn into something horrible, something they hunted.

"Alex, the last hunt in Chicago...the werewolf. I know he was human at the time, and the moon wasn't full, but the bite...something's happening. I can feel it. I can feel it inside me."

Alex blinks at him, her face an emotionless mask. He hates it when she does that. It's like she's a robot, feeling nothing. He does it himself, shuts down, stamps down the panic and fear, keeps it inside, hides it from the world when inside he's a howling, sobbing, mess of emotions. She blinks a few more times and then turns back to her laptop screen, she hits Ctrl and S and waits, then pulls the screen down and sits with it on her lap. The silver Dell symbol on the top shines softly, silver will kill it, kill him.

"Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"Because I wasn't sure, I didn't want to scare you. Nothing on that hunt was right. Werewolves, who never fully changed, hunted out of cycle, looked human all the time.."

Alex glances over at him quickly, reading his face, checking to see if he was hiding

anything else from her. He wasn't, he was scared, even with a quick glance she could tell he was scared. It was the same look he had on his face when he told her about hell, about what he did there, what he really did there. He was waiting for her to leave him, to tell him it was over. He was scared of being alone, not of changing into an animal. She swallowed hard, she had to be strong for him now, never give up, never show fear, adapt and overcome; the motto for survival. Bobby's, the panic room, a place to keep him till they could figure it all out.

"That's why we're going to Bobby's. "

He nods faintly at her, watching her thoughts move over her face. At least she wasn't a

robot now, he could see her planning, weighing, measuring everything out, laying down ideas, scrapping them, laying out new ones.

We're going to Bobby's so you can lock me in the panic room. Wait to see if I go full on wolf, it's a week and a half till full moon. Not much time."

Alex nods back, her brain spinning, she glances over at him and sees a scared little boy.

He expects her to leave him, even now, a year into it. She shoves the laptop off her lap and let's it slide onto the floor, then shifts around in the seat to face him. His knuckles are still white; she slides her hand over his and peels his fingers off, then presses them to her cheek. His fingertips are cold, whether from loss of circulation or from whatever thing is infecting him. She can feel the little calluses on his fingertips from loading rounds and packing salt rounds. She presses the palm of his hand against her cheek, feeling all the little bumps from cuts and broken bones; the palm of his hand is still warm. She could smell him, intensely; something she noticed more and more about him the last few days was his smell. Warm, musty, leather, and gun oil, she felt it curl inside her, every time. She wanted him, she wanted to pull his shirt off right there and take him, but it was bad timing, later, tonight in bed. She focuses her thoughts on how he was hurting and scared, how much he needed her.

"We'll make it work. We'll find a way. I'm not leaving you, not even if you change, I'm not leaving you."

"If I change you have to kill me."

"No, I won't. We need to stop for the night. There is a small town a few miles up the road..."

Alex leans forward and kisses him, her lips brush over his, soft, kissing away the fear, keeping him thinking, keeping him from freezing up, she wasn't going to lose him. Promises, making promises with her lips, promising him she would stay, promising him that tonight they would be together, promising him she would find a way to save him.

Her lips were a lifeline, giving him hope, if anybody could do it, it was Alex. She was as smart as Sam, she could kick his ass, she was a huge computer geek, and she was a chemistry genius. She was his Alex, he would die for her in a second and she would do the same for him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The only restaurant in town was part of a roller-skating rink, the tables over looked the floor where girls wore too tight jeans, belly tops and bra tops that never quite contained their overinflated breasts. Dean scanned the crowd, his leg jiggling under the table, scanning but not seeing, completely distracted by the tingling that was quickly moving up his leg. Since he walked in it seemed to be getting more intense by the minute, his skin was crawling, not just his leg, his entire body was crawling. He jumped when Alex grabbed his bouncing leg with her hand and held it still.

"Are you okay? Is it getting worse?" she whispered to him.

He glanced over at her, and then did a double take, not at her, but at the girl behind her. She was tall and slim, almost too skinny, with long blonde hair. He could smell her, she was musty, wet dirt smell, old books, like a library, he hated that smell. Her eyes though, they burned into him, she looked through him, froze him to the spot, he couldn't look away from her. Alex spun around on her stool and followed his eyes to the blond. She emanated an aura, a power, intensity that Alex could pick up on, the blond vibrated with it, like Dean's leg under her hand.

"She's one of them. Isn't she?"

Alex looks back at Dean, he nods, and then tears his eyes away from her and looks back across the rink. He takes a deep breath and tries hard to steady his shaking body. He's muscles vibrate to the point his stomach rolls, the cheeseburger and fries stirring up with the coke into a churning mass.

"We better leave."

Alex's voice sounds like its echoing, a wave of heat washes over him, and he manages a faint nod, and then forces his legs to move, stand up, walk out of the restaurant. The Impala sits like a beacon, promising a safe spot for him in the middle of the parking lot. He is aware that Alex has her arm around his waist, coaching him along. Her voice echoes through his head, he focuses on her voice, makes out a few words, lets her lead him to the car. Sleep, he really wants to sleep, his muscles hurt, his head echoes, it's hot.

"Just need to sleep."

He's not sure if it came out of his mouth, he can hear himself think it but his lips are tingling so much he's not sure if they are moving or not. He's not sure of anything.

The motel was a block away, too close to the arena as far as Alex was concerned and since they were already noted for being from out of town it would be too easy for the blond to find them. If she was alone it was okay, Alex had plenty of silver bullets to take the bitch out, but if there were too many of them. She shoved the thought back and spun the Impala into the motel parking lot. At least it was lit up like a Christmas tree, no ambush spots. As much as she would have loved to leave this second, she knew Dean was in no shape to travel. Alex helped Dean staggered into the room and slid him into a cheap metal framed chair that motels loved to use. He buried his head in his hands and sat there, not moving, while she grabbed her duffle bag and fixed up the bed. Dean hadn't moved, not as much as a jiggle since they came in. She approached him hesitantly, watching, waiting for him to move.

"Dean, come on. Take off the boots and try to sleep."

He groaned softly, then dropped his hands and started to pull off his shirt. Alex grabbed the sleeve and tugged his arm out, then helped him with the other one, her eyes never leaving his face. He was slightly flushed but seemed to be normal, no jiggling, no pacing. His boots came off and he flopped into the bed face down, almost asleep before his head hit the pillow. Alex knelt beside the bed and brushed his hair back from his forehead. He wore it a little longer on the top for her after she told him his short brush cut reminded her of the POW's she had rescued from the Middle East. She liked it longer, it would tousle up, messy when he got out of the shower. It gave her something to grab when he was wrestling with her or when they were having sex. He groans faintly and smiles when her lips brush over his cheek. She feels a curl inside her, but she shoves it back, buries it, he was in no shape for sex.

Its dark in the motel room, the clock flips its red lights to 1:30 when she rolls over in the bed and slides her arm out to find his body. It hits sheets, mattress, a pillow, no Dean. Alex bolts up out of bed, her fingers wrapped around the handle of the pistol, immediately awake, adrenalin pumping. The room is dark, silent, empty, the curtain flops in the breeze. The window that was shut when she went to bed is wide open, the breeze plays with the light sheers, teasing her, showing her the way he got out. She would have been awake the instant the door had opened, he knew that, he had slid the cheap slider window open and climbed out so it wouldn't wake her. God knows he hadn't gone to kill it, all three pistols were exactly where she had left them. That meant something else, either he had gone to join it or gone to mate with it and either one had her gagging in fear.

The roller rink was dark; the lights were turned down to a few security lights over the doorways and the red exit signs. He didn't need them; he could smell her just fine, his eyes adjusted quickly to the dim lights, faster than they would have done in the past. He smiled to himself at the irony of it; the past was only a few hours ago really. She was inside, waiting for him, he could hear the plastic rollerblade wheels rolling over the floor of the rink, rhythmically, one foot, the other foot, one foot, the other foot. Like breathing, or sex. He wondered if that was what she was waiting for; she wanted to have sex with him. No not sex anymore, she was an animal, and she wanted to mate with him, except that meant he was an animal too. He wasn't, he could still think, speak, love, he loved Alex. That is why he was there, he would kill her so she wouldn't hunt them, so Alex could get him to Bobby's, so maybe they could help him.

The rhythm hesitated, then stopped, the rolling plastic wheels stopped, he stopped, sniffed the air. Something else, it was familiar but so strong it almost hurt, he could feel the smell hitting the nerves behind his eyes, it tingled in the bridge of his nose and he pinched it, trying to tone down the smell a bit. The wheels moved, getting closer, closer, she was moving towards him, he ducked behind some boxes piled up by the door and watched, waited to see how good his blond werewolf was at hunting. The outside door swung open, the lights from the parking lot momentarily blinded him but he knew the smell, Alex. He cursed himself, cursed her, cursed the werewolf, cursed god, then waited. Blond werewolf had stopped right in front of him, sniffing the air, sorting out Dean from Alex, weighing, deciding who was closest, who would be easier to kill, she rolled away on her plastic wheels, closer to the door, to Alex. Dean stepped out from behind the boxes and grabbed... one hand over her mouth, one hand around her waist. She smelled musty and he almost laughed out loud when he thought of a wet dog and the irony of it. Then it hit him. Hard, almost staggered him back on his feet...lust, not for sex but for blood...her blood running down his chin... filling his mouth...he wanted to kill. Needed to kill her...with his bare hands.

Alex spins around at the scuffling noise and then ducks behind the corner of the booth; she peeks over the counter top and freezes. Dean holding the werewolf, in an embrace, pulling her closer to him, hard against his body, he was kissing her neck his hand clamped tight over her mouth. No, no, her brain told her, thinking in slow motion...not kissing her, not kissing her. Her legs pushed away, she knew she was walking closer to him, stunned...too afraid to look at him...to afraid to look away...moving closer...watching him...bite her, chewing into her skin, tearing at the muscles in her neck. The blond wasn't moving, she was just hanging there...staring off into space...her blouse blooms red...a silver knife...why was he chewing on her? Her legs stop and she stands there... watching him...frozen in disbelief. She sees him look at her...his eyes lock with hers and suddenly she can't breath...the intensity of him...it rolls off him in waves...lust, blood, sex, desire, animal, animal something...the blond werewolf thumps on the concrete floor...his boots thump...one, two, one, two...like a heartbeat, steady and strong...not hers though, hers vibrates, convulses, tries to beat its way out of her chest to safety. The blood covers his chin in a sticky beard; something wakes, and curls inside her.

"Dean..." she whispers.

He's there...standing in front of her...eyes locked...his hands lock around her arms, he pulls her in against his body, his hand runs through her hair and he's kissing her. His mouth grinds into hers and she's gags as the werewolf blood fills her mouth. It tingles and fizzes like pop, she chokes and swallows... it numbs her lips and throat lightly like Novocain...she can barely feel his teeth sinking into her lower lip, biting... drawing blood...it stings and burns...and she bites him back...he groans into her mouth. His lips travel down her neck...his teeth nibble, nibble, then sink hard into the muscles that run above her collar bone...it burns...goes numb...then tinkles...pins and needles up her neck and down her arm. Did he hit a nerve or is it something else? It's something else...she can feel it...it tingles, it burns and itches...ants crawling over her skin...the curl roars up inside her, demands to be released, overwhelms her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The sounds wakes her, a dull rhythmic whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, with little flashes of light, that stings her eyes. It's her heart beating, she thinks. No, no something else, her head pounds, that's her heart...so what the hell is the whooshing sound. Her blood? The smell assaults her next, it's so strong she rolls over and gags onto the cool floor. Its gun oil, and musty wool blankets, old paper, books, hundreds of books, and alcohol, whiskey maybe. Her head pounds harder and she moans into the floor, willing her arm to move...cover your nose...mask the smell...make its stop...please. Her arm weighs so much, she can't seem to make it move, no wait, there it is. Her hand cups her nose and masks the smell with another, a dark, rich, thick smell. It moves her deep inside, something unfurls deep inside her, it stretches itself out, moves down her arms and fingers, down her legs to her toes, it curls up her spine and hits her. Dean.

Bobby flips another page over and scans it, searching for keywords that would catch his eyes. Nothing, and nothing again. He glances up at Dean who slouches in the chair beside him, the bottle dangling from his fingertips, flipping pages.

"How long...?" Dean mutters, not looking up from the page.

"A couple hours, she should be up soon, if my guess is right. Do we let her out?"

Dean doesn't answer; he stares at the page, then takes a drink from the bottle, and stares harder then shakes his head.

"I don't know. I can feel it inside me, waiting, this thing. I thought I could control it till the full moon..." his voice trails off and he shakes his head at Bobby. "The idea of that werewolf hunting Alex, it sent me over. All I could think about was keeping the blond away from her. When she got close enough all I could think about was killing her."

Bobby shakes his head at Dean and then grabs his whiskey glass, he tosses back a large portion of it, then glares at Dean.

"Well you certainly did that. Too bad you hadn't stopped at just killing and not sharing."

Dean glares at Bobby, hating him for his snide remarks, hating him for being right, hating him for seeing what he had done to Alex. The first horrible moments when he could feel her changing, right there in his arms, the blood and bites mixing at a terrible rate. If the werewolves knew that the transmission wasn't just through saliva and a bite, if blood worked just as well, there would be no stopping them. He stopped breathing for a second... bodily fluids, saliva, blood, and sperm. Alex could have been infected weeks ago. It could be worse than they had thought.

Bobby watches Dean's face, following his train of thought, knowing when the new horrible realization had hit him. Judging by the look on his face it was bad, how bad, he needed to know.

"So are you gonna share whatever great thought you just had or do I have to beat it outta you, cause it doesn't look good from here."

Dean swallows hard and takes a drink, tries to find his voice again.

"What if it's not just a bite with saliva, it's blood, and sperm too? What if it's bodily fluids? Werewolves always bite because they are transformed into wolves; we know it's a werewolf bite that passes it on. But these ones...they don't need to transform to pass it on..."

Dean's voice fades away. Saying it out loud just seems to make it a good solid hypothesis and not a flat out guess. If that is the case then Alex would have been exposed to it days ago, and the bites and blood a final dose big enough to speed her transformation on even quicker than his own. It might not even be Alex in the panic room right now. Bobby watches his face and takes a drink of his own.

"So basically you're telling me Alex just got a major dose of werewolf toxin, in addition to the other smaller doses she received since you got bit. Awww shit Dean..."

He slides his chair back, the loose wheels wobbling over the old floor and pushes himself away from the desk.

"When did you get bit?"

"Chicago, about two weeks ago."

"I don't want no dammed 'abouts' I want days, hours, freakin' minutes! You bonehead!"

Dean jumps as Bobby yells at him. He glances around the room, quickly calculating in his head.

"Okay, okay, freakin' take it easy! Eleven days, eight hours or so, I don't remember exactly what time it was. I was kinda trying to kill the crazy bastard who was biting my leg."

"Okay, eleven days, eight hours, maybe a quarter of a teaspoon of saliva in your bite. How many times have you two had sex since then?"

Dean blushes red, then shrugs and sticks out the fingers of his left hand, he goes around

those fingers, then starts on his right hand. Bobby's eyebrows pop up when he goes back to the left, still counting.

"Jesus, when do you get time to hunt?"

Dean shushes him and touches another finger, then counts them up and blushes again.

"Around fourteen times. She just... got a little crazy the last couple of days."

Bobby looks at Dean for a minute, then takes a drink and shakes his head at him then leans on the arm of the easy chair Dean is slouching in.

"Shut up Bobby."

"I guess we can be pretty sure it's bodily fluids. So that's about a teaspoon per...you know." Bobby blushes.

"But how much of that would be werewolf toxin or venom or whatever the hell it is?"

Bobby shakes his head at him and stalks off to sit behind his desk again. He yanks the chair up to the desk and slams the beer bottle down. Talking to Dean was like talking to a big wall of 'what-ifs" and negativity sometimes and it irritated the hell out of him. It was bad enough trying to figure out how to save them both without having to talk about Dean having sex with Alex. He'd known both of them for quite a while and didn't like the visual pictures that sprang to mind sometimes.

"I don't know you idiot! Christ, it's not like we can test it, besides I'm just trying to get an idea of how much of the crap she's got in her, so maybe we can get a better idea of when she's going to lose it."

A loud bang echoes up from the basement, both men stare at each other, neither one move.

"Dean! Bobby! Let me out!"

_My first story so please review and let me know what you think! I have lots more to share!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Alex slumps back down on the cot and rolls her eyes at the ceiling, then hangs her head. Dean should be the one down here, not her, what the hell? Her head throbs along with her shoulder, and a quick inspection found a heavy padded bandage taped down to her neck. Vague images flash through her memory, disjoined, weird sensations and magnified sounds and smells. Blood, there was a lot of blood, Dean was there, he bit her neck. Her head comes up; her fingers caress the bandage as if to bring the memory closer. Oh god, he bit her neck, she could taste blood in her mouth, he bit her lip, and kissed her, werewolf blood. Everywhere. The door creaks and swings open slowly, Dean and Bobby stand there and watch her. She stands up; her eyes fix on Dean and she hardly notices the silver blade in Bobby's hand.

"You bit me. You fed me werewolf blood."

Dean swallows and nods, then steps into the cell, his smell wafts towards her, something curls under her skin, it's hot. She can fell it creeping over her, like a thick fog that brushes over your skin and makes you damp, or a sprinkler that mists you in summer. His mouth moves and she can hear sounds but they don't register, he hesitates and sees her. He sees what is happening, he smells her, something behind his eyes flicker. She steps closer and growls at him, then sniffs, he smells warm, musky, leather, gun oil, whiskey.

Dean steps back and watches her, he can feel something inside surging to the surface, he desperately fights it, then spins back to Bobby and shoves him out towards the door.

"Get out! Now! Lock it! Go!"

Bobby hesitates a second, and glances at Alex, her eyes glint in the light, shining like a mirror back at him, dog's eyes, he looks back a Dean.

"You can't stay here either Dean, she's not..." he stops when the light catches Dean's eyes, they mirror back to him. Alex steps closer, Dean spins and snarls at her, she crouches in a combat stance and side steps to move into a better position. She snarls back at him and glances at Bobby.

"Get out Bobby!" Dean warns, glancing behind him towards his friend.

"She's going to kill you, you dammed fool! Get the hell out here."

"She's not going to kill me. She's in heat!

The door slams behind him; the sound stings his ears and bounces through the room. Alex puts her hands to her ears and moans in pain.

"Dean, it hurts, make it stop. Make it stop."

Dean steps closer and pulls her into his arms, hoping a moment of lucidity will be enough to get through to her.

"I can't sweetheart, I can't. Don't fight it, relax, relax into it. We're safe, nobody will come in, it's just us. There's nobody to fight off, it's just us."

Alex relaxes against him, and closes her eyes. The smell of him makes her mouth water, she can hear his heart beating, her skin prickles, she breathes him into her, a dull throbbing ache settle between her legs.

"Oh god, I need you." She moans against the skin of his neck, her lips and teeth nip him, her tongue flicks out to taste him, salty, musty, warm.

"For days...I've been thinking about you. I can't get enough of you. I can't think of anything but fucking you, not making love, not having sex, but fucking you hard and fast for hours. I can't stop."

Dean groans and closes his eyes, trying to retain some kind of control, something that was slipping away by the minute. He had to, the last time he lost it he killed a werewolf and fed its blood to her, his Alex. She rubs her body against his and nuzzles his neck, growling softly. He shutters, the smell of her is so strong, he can smell that she's warm and wet, waiting for him. He takes a breath and shoves her back, then turns and yanks the mattress, pillows and blanket off the cot and tosses it onto the floor. The wooden table gets kicked out of the middle of the floor back against the wall with a crash.

Alex shutters and pins her hands to her ears, moaning as the sound of the wooden legs

squeals across the floor. It fades away and is replaced by the sound of breathing, hearts beating, that dammed fan whooshing over their heads. A new sound, material sliding over material, almost as loud as Velcro being torn apart, she looks around for the new sound and sees him pulling his shirt off, it lands on the floor and lands with a soft pillow-flop sound. He's tugging his t-shirt off...the smell of him is stronger... getting closer... warm skin...salty tasting... warm skin... under her hands.

"Oh god," she whispers. "Please don't let me hurt him."

"I think I'd like that." He whispers back.

Several hours later Dean's hands clamp around her hips, his fingers dig into her hip bones and he yanks her back against him, hard. She moans and quivers around him, then pushes back against him, begging for more.

"Bite me, bite me again." she begs."Hard, bite me hard."

Dean leans down and kisses up her spine then across her shoulders, and sinks his teeth into the muscles there. She moans, he drives into her, her muscles clamp around him, pulsing, squeezing, rippling around him, she gasps, moaning in pleasure as the ripples travel though her body. He bites her shoulder, grinding his teeth and hips into her, the building pressure finally releases in his own wave of rippling pleasure. It encompasses his body, sweeps up his soul, drives into her, and smashes together, one huge, rippling wave of intensity. Over and over it builds up and smashes them together, leaving them breathless, a mass of quivering muscles and sweat.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The sunlight faded long ago, the room is dark, lit by faint moonlight filtering in the air vent, plenty enough for them to see each other. Dean shifts off her, then pulls her into his arms and tugs the wool blanket over her. His fingers brush over the dozen bites, some fresh, some already turning a dark purple hue, across her shoulders, overlapping and criss-crossing each other, a testament to the hours they had spend mating.

Mating, yes the perfect word, he thought, drifting into a light doze. It wasn't sex, sex was for humans; it wasn't fucking, he'd fucked plenty of women and it was nothing like this; this was as raw and desperate and driven as two animals would be. They were mating, like two animals would, the male dominating his female, forcing her under him, biting her neck to hold her still for his thrusting. An all consuming desire, driving them both, on and on, past the point he'd ever been before. Alex shifts in his arms, curling up around him, getting as close as possible, skin on skin, his lips brushed over her bruised skin, wishing away the hurt on one hand, already anticipating the next round when he would add more bruises to the layers she had.

His lips tickled over her skin, it hurt but it was a good hurt, like when you broke your arm and just had to scratch it, but the scratching hurt and felt good at the same time. She knew he was feeling guilty for hurting her, but she wanted it, needed it to hurt. He understood her the second time they had come together. Her nails had dug into his back, his breath had sucked between his teeth and he had jerked and then moaned. It was a game, he would thrust into her harder and she'd claw him back, he'd shutter in pleasure every time, gasping her name. Her hands had eventually worked their way down his back to his ass, digging in, pulling him to her, encouraging him to go harder. Harder, she had moaned to him, harder. He finally stopped holding back, thinking he was going to hurt her, she wanted to be hurt. It hurt so good.

His lips tickled up her neck, across her jaw, over her lips, kissing her. This was her Dean back, kissing her to sleep, not the animal. The animals inside had finally been satisfied, they were exhausted, too tired to dominate, but they were there, just under the surface, simmering.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, trying not to break the spell of feeling herself again. "Do you think it's over?

He hummed against her skin, and kissed over her eyebrows, thinking of the right answer. He didn't have it, he didn't know, he knew he should have been exhausted, unable to move a muscle. He felt tired, relaxed, and normal. It was like any other night, sweaty, relaxed, languid, ready to sleep, except it wasn't normal. It was night now, they had been at it for hours, he should have been dead.

"I feel normal right now. Don't jinks it." He joked, trying to make the situation lighter. He could feel her giggle more than hear it; her voice was hoarse, probably from moaning so much. He smiled faintly to himself, it was ironic, he had always thought of sex with a girl as a bit of an unspoken challenge. See if he could get them moaning, or better yet, screaming his name. It was never like that with Alex, yet here she was, hoarse from screaming, for hours. Was she okay, he was still worried about hurting her, not just her skin, but internally?

"Are you okay? I mean except for the bites...inside are you okay? I was so...rough."

Alex smiled, then kissed the little cleft in his chin. He always acted so tough, nonchalant and distant when he was worried or afraid. Jokes, he'd make silly comments and jokes too, to try and lighten the mood, make everyone else feel better. Inside he'd be a bundle of nerves, scared as hell, and worried sick.

"I'm fine Dean. If it was too much I would have told you to stop. Actually I would have growled at you and bit you back." She giggled, she couldn't help it. It was a ridiculous situation; she put on her best British accent and smiled up at him.

"I'm sorry darling, we just screwed each other's brains out for the last five hours, are you feeling okay. Little peaked perhaps?"

Dean snorted in laughter and chuckled into her hair, then kissed the top of her head.

"Actually I am starving. I wonder if Bobby will let us out. I think I scared the shit outta him."

Alex sighs, then closes her eyes and sniffs the air. Steak, potatoes and beer wafts through the door and into the room. She groans when her stomach growls and rolls over on her back and sniffs again.

"Ummmm, he's cooking steak and potatoes and beer. Can you smell it? I'm hungry too."

Dean sniffs the air, faintly; very faintly he can sort of smell meat cooking, but potatoes and beer, really? He glances down at her and then sniffs again, nope just meat.

"I can smell meat. No potatoes or beer though."

Alex glances over at him, then frowns a little, she closes her eyes and sniffs again, whiskey too, he's just grabbed a shot of whiskey.

"You can't smell it? He just took a shot of whiskey or poured it on the steak. Can you smell that?"

Dean closes his eyes and sniffs again, just meat. He shakes his head, then realises he never got a chance to tell her what him and Bobby had some up with for a theory. She was going to be pissed.

"I think I know why I can't smell it. Bobby and I were talking while you were down here sleeping. We have an idea."

Alex's eyebrows pop up, he smiles. That means 'Oh really? Talking about me are you?'

"We think that this werewolf toxin is spread through bodily fluids. Werewolves bite when they are transformed and transfer it, but the one that bit me wasn't and I still got infected."

"So , saliva, blood, sweat, semen..." her scratchy little voice fades away when the implication hits. "Oh god, every time we...I've been receiving little doses for a week...and then the blood when you kissed me."

"And salvia when I bit you or kissed you. You've been receiving doses from me for about eleven days. I think males are the main carriers, we keep passing it on. That's why you can smell more...you're more... advanced than I am."

"So I'm going to hulk out in a few days."

" I don't know." He whispers back.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Alex stares at the fan spinning over head, her thoughts spinning like the blades, rifling through her knowledge of werewolves, going over the events of the past week, sorting through what had happened the last few hours. Searching for something that might help, give them more time, a snipped of something Dean yelled at Bobby seconds before he slammed the door on them pops in her head.

"Dean, what did you yell at Bobby just before he locked us in? I was in heat?"Dean grunts a reply into the pillow, then looks over at her.

"He thought you were going to try to kill me, but I knew that wasn't it. Like the blond, I had to kill her because she was coming for you. That's why you were so...last week all you wanted to do was have sex... the venom was already starting to work on you."

The realisation hits her like a brick in the stomach; Alex takes a breath aware of how close he was watching her. She takes a breath, then another, shaken to her very depths, heartbroken and terrified at the same time, trying desperately to hold it together. It fails completely, whether it is raging hormones or werewolf venom, the levee breaks and Alex dissolves into a weeping, hysterical mess.

Dean is stunned, frozen, at the emotional mess of crying female beside him. Alex cried once, when Sam left and it was a few random tears that ran down her cheeks and was quickly dashed away. She had fallen through a ceiling and landed on the floor on her back and never even whimpered, she'd sewn herself up when he had broken his fingers and couldn't do it for her, she had watched her soldiers, her best buddies, being tortured to death in front of her and swore she never cried.

"_What-the-hell_?"...he pulled her into his arms and held her as close as he could, his lips kiss the top of her head, her forehead, her cheeks, anything he could reach, trying to kiss away the hurt, whispering to her it was going to be okay, they would find a cure, something.

Alex shakes her head at him, unable to speak for crying so hard, wanted to tell him what she had thought, what had completely broken her heart. What would completely break his when she did manage to tell him.

"I'm in heat." She sobbed against his chest, "For almost eleven days...had sex at least a dozen times...five hours..." she sobs harder, gasps for breath as her heart twists inside her, wringing out her soul.

"It's okay...please stop. Tell me what's wrong, I don't understand. You're scaring the hell out of me."

"Pregnant...what if I'm already pregnant?" she sobs.

She knew, she knew without a doubt the thing he wanted most was a family. They talked about it, a normal life, kids, mowing the lawn, soccer games and parent-teacher meetings. Alex could take a security job, or work as a civilian consultant on a base, Dean could get his mechanics ticket and set up shop. Her military pension was enough to keep the bills paid and get a house somewhere, when the hunting stopped. Peace...quiet...a home...somebody she loved...gone...this would tear them apart. It hurt, she wanted to die.

His heart almost stopped, then it hurt, it hurt like hell, no worse than hell.

'What if I'm already pregnant?'...with his baby...except it wasn't... it would be something to kill, his baby, something he always wanted, was something they would have to kill. Was this how it all started? A pregnant mother bitten, gives birth to a hybrid, starts a new kind of werewolf, one that doesn't have to transform to infect. If she was already pregnant...if...a moot point...the odds were she was, or soon would be. Within a matter of hours or days, if she was in heat it meant she was fertile right now, eggs were there waiting for sperm...maybe already growing.

Alex had stopped sobbing and was shivering against him, shuttering, exhausted, and cold. He pulled her closer and tucked the blanket around her; the feel of their bodies against each other forced some heat back into them both.

She laid there not moving, she felt dead, her soul was dying, she had crushed him, torn his heart out and crushed the last bits of him that had been brave enough to love her. He would never forgive this, neither would she. His arms tightened around her, his lips kissed the top of her head, he whispered something. He never said it before, not out loud... she knew, but he'd never said it before, it stabbed through her, torn out her heart, hurt so much.

"I love you, don't leave me." He whispered, his voice cracking, "Please don't leave me."

Alex couldn't help it, she cried herself to sleep against his chest, wishing it was another time, another place, and that there was no such thing as 'hunting'.

The morning sun had inched its way into the house and crept across the kitchen floor, leaving a trail behind it into the library. Bobby sat at the old desk, his fingers running absently over the beer label. It was way too early in the morning for beer, but he figured if he had grabbed the whiskey he'd have been utterly useless for the rest of the day. He would have drank the whole dammed thing himself and been completely useless. Who was he kidding, he was useless. He had sat there and gone through just about every book he had, trying to find something, and failed. Now, now it was even worse than he thought, Alex, the closest thing he had ever had to a daughter, was probably pregnant with a hybrid human-werewolf thing, and both Dean and Alex were well on their way to changing into full-on werewolves themselves. With all the shit they had gone through, all the crap they managed to get themselves into and out of, it came down to something as stupid as a forty year old man sinking his teeth into Dean's leg. It was completely stupid. It pissed him off.

"So, nothing huh?" Dean muttered from the couch. Bobby shook his head and grabbed the last sip of beer from the bottom of the can. It was bitter.

"Nope, not a damned thing. Silver through the heart. Ain't no way..."

"I know Bobby, I know. But this isn't normal werewolf stuff either. Maybe if we can figure out something else...try something new..."

"We don't have time." Alex interrupted. She had her feet curled up under her on the old recliner, wrapped up in a ratty old crochet blanket. She looked like she'd been drinking the whiskey Bobby had passed up on. She looked like crap, and felt like crap and it was apparent she really didn't give a shit.

"I'm going into town...to the clinic..." she started. She had to look away and swallow before she could start again. "There's a new pill out, 'Morning After', or something like that. It's supposed to keep you from getting pregnant...if something happens."

"It's only good for the morning after, not eleven days after. We have to start counting from there hon." Bobby reminds her, smiling at her gently, while popping the top off another beer.

"We don't need to jump the gun here. Let's just get the facts before we start jumping to conclusions. We don't need to be running off half-cocked." Dean mutters from the couch. Alex raises her eyebrows at his choice of words.

"We don't have a choice."

"You don't even know if you're pregnant."

"The odds are I am."

"Well the odds can bite me! We're not going!" Dean snarls from the couch. His face flashes regret and he hangs his head for a second, gathers himself, and looks over at Alex.

"We don't have to be in such a hurry to...get rid of it. We might be wrong, Alex."

The longing in his voice twists her insides, she glances over to Bobby to see if he's caught it too, judging by the way his hand shakes the beer can up to his mouth, he's caught it and it's hurting him, just as much as it's her. Bobby catches her watching him, and the second it takes their eyes to catch, says everything. They both know stubborn Dean is firmly entrenched on the couch and dug in, nothing will convince him to go to the clinic or let her anywhere near it. They were going to have to come up with a new plan of action.

"It seems that the best thing to do would be to see if she's pregnant before we go off considerin' the alternatives." Bobby grumbles. "The clinic would be a good place to start."

"What about a home pregnancy test? How accurate are those things?"

Bobby shrugs and turns to the computer screen and pokes away at the keyboard. His two finger pecking method makes Alex smile to herself for a brief second. Bobby grumbles and hits the backspace button several times, then pokes away again. Alex uncurls from the blanket and pads across the floor on bare feet to the desk and pokes Bobby's shoulder.

"Push over there old man, I'll be in the delivery room the rate your going."

Bobby grumbles and glances up at her, then grabs his beer can and flops down on the chair. It's still warm from Alex, he didn't realise he was cold till he hit the warm blanket, but found himself wiggling into it, sucking up the warm. Alex's fingers beat out a rhythm over the keyboard, similar to a drummer playing a drum set. They pause a second, the silence punctuated with the mouse clicking, then Alex sighs and swears under her breath.

Dean glances over at her, completely aware of everything she's doing. He recognises that tone of her voice. She's frustrated because she found something she wasn't expecting, or didn't like, either way it usually meant he would be dealing with a very frustrated Alex for a few minutes till she figured out something else. A very frustrated Alex at this point might be very scary...

"What?" he asked, watching her closely.

"Home pregnancy tests are most accurate if used a couple days after a missed period..."she reads from the screen. "If taken too early it can result in a false reading."

She looks defeated and sad again. Dean sighs and sinks into the couch, then takes a sip of beer. _Fuck! What else?_ He thinks to himself. Bobby frowns and glances from one to the other, not getting it.

"Ahhh, okay. So we wait a couple more days. What's the big deal? If it means an accurate test we wait. OR we can go down to the clinic and get the blood test done. Big whoop!" he grumbles, irritated at the defeated attitude spewing from the both of them.

"We could be waiting a few days, or a week , or a month." Alex whispers at the screen. She glances at Bobby, then back at the screen, her face flicks through a series of emotions, her jaw muscle flexes and she rolls her neck around and stiffens her spine a little.

"I'm very irregular. Very irregular. Sometimes I'm early, sometimes I'm late, sometimes I completely miss it. The doctor's tried every blood drug available, nothing works. I could be two weeks late right now..." Alex's voice trails off... the implications clear.

"Oh for christ's sake..." Bobby grumbles under his breath, then takes another sip of beer. "I guess we're heading to the clinic."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The doctor was brisk, efficient and in a hurry which was just the way Alex liked it. Too busy to ask too many questions, the clinic was focused on getting her in and out as quickly as possible and never bothered asking the hard questions. With Dean and Bobby both in tow, it just looked like any other unwed daughter being escorted to the clinic by an irate father and future shot-gun husband.

"Well, Miss Cox, the results will be ready for you tomorrow. I'll just need you to sign these papers and leave us a phone number where we can call you with the results. The nurse will give you several sheets of paper on the way out with directions as to how you should take the pills I'm going to give you. Just in case."

He hands Alex several sheets of paper and a pen and points to a signature block and date section of the paper. He barely looks up at her while he flips through her charts and paperwork and recites a litany of information that makes Alex already gray mood, grayer.

"There are several risks involved so please read the paperwork attached very carefully. Side-effects may include heavy bleeding, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and heavy cramping. You must be no more than two hours away from emergency medical care, and you must agree to return for 1 to 3 follow up appointments. You must also agree to have a surgical abortion should the pills fail."

At the last line he glances up to see if Alex agrees, she manages a faint nod and winces when Dean shifts suddenly. The doctor stops for a second and glances over at Dean, something in his posture made it perfectly clear he was not agreeing to the idea. The doctor sighs and takes off his glasses and glances back to Alex and Bobby.

"You know there are other choices Miss Cox. I'd be perfectly willing to go over them again with you..."

Alex jerks her head up and glares at him, the doctor immediately stops, the look in her eyes scares him more than the huffy, irritated, young man beside her. They were cold, and hard, he'd seen them once a few times before when he counseled the few soldiers who had returned back to town after tours overseas. They would be perfectly normal, laughing, caring people, but in a heartbeat something would come over them, he'd ask the wrong question and he'd find himself staring into shark eyes. Cold, hard and dead eyes. He was looking at a pair right now. There was nothing on her file that said she was ex-military but her body language said everything, those eyes said everything.

"This is hard enough without you making me feel guilty..." she growls.

"That's not my intention at all, dear. Once you take the first pill, there is no going back. You have to be aware of that." He tells her gently, then slides the glasses back on giving him a second to gather his wits. Her tough shell wavered, her eyes flashed for a second, pain and for a second a scared little girl was standing there.

"I am aware. Very aware of the consequences." She whispers back. Her voice catches in her throat a bit and she glances away from his eyes. She could see that he recognized something in her, was it the uncertainty she was trying so hard to hide? Or did he simply recognize the desperation he'd probably seen so many times before? _Did it matter? _ _Uncertainty, lost hopes, a broken heart..._Dean's hand slips into hers and squeezes gently.

"We still have to wait and see..." his voice grumbles. "We're just getting the details sorted out..."

The doctor manages a small smile and then turns away to grab two small pill bottles he had sat on the desk when he came back onto the room. Alex's hand jerks spasmodically in Dean's hand for a second before she lets his go and reaches out for the two bottles. He wants to reach out and grab them from her and crush them under his boot, then drag Alex away from this place, far away, away from everybody. His instincts scream at him to grab her and run, he knows it won't work, that it's probably the werewolf in him. Her fingers close around the bottles and he watches her slip them into her pocket. They are like time bombs, except he doesn't know what the timer says...or even if they're running. The doctor says something about a phone call, tomorrow; it seems too soon, more time, give him more time to figure something out first.

"Dean?" He jerks back into the room and looks up at the faces waiting for him.

"What?"

"Do you have any questions?" _Sure, how about how do you cure a werewolf? Can you test my blood for werewolf venom, how about my sperm, saliva maybe? What if Bobby and I are wrong? What if she's pregnant and it's not a monster..._

"Na, nothin'. Can we go now?" The doctor's face falls just for a second, like he was hoping Dean would have asked, then he nods at the three of them, and smiles a doctor smile. _Like sorry, I've just fucked up your life but, oh well, you asked._

Dean spins on his heel and heads out the door. The waiting room is stuffed full of worn out mothers with sick snotty kids, old men with plaid shorts and sport sock stuffed sandals, and a couple of young teenagers who looked more hung-over than sick. He hates doctors and hospitals and medicine that can't really cure dick all. The bright, sunny day outside just makes him feel crappier, and feeling crappier makes him feel even worse when he thinks about how Alex must be feeling.

He slides in behind Paula's wheel and waits for two car doors to slam, they slam and he waits, trying to figure out something to say. Nothing. Everything sounds stupid. Weak. Worthless. He glances over at Bobby in the passenger seat, then glances into the rear view mirror at Alex. She's wearing her mask, staring at the back of Bobby's seat, then she looks out the window, not really seeing anything.

It's too quiet, so he turns the key. Paula rumbles to life, the engine vibrates, a steady rumble, a good strong engine, something to kill the silence. He steps on the gas, making the wheels squeal a little, then flips on the music. Anything to kill the silence.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The drive home was almost as bad a hell, almost, but getting back to Bobby's was worse. Usually Bobby's place was a haven, a place to crash, eat, do some laundry, in worst cases, hide. Now it felt like a cage, with them all trapped inside it, waiting for the phone to ring. And then, just to add to the crap, the moon was coming on full, and he could feel it. It was like his whole body was gradually beginning to tingle, like your arm or foot falling asleep when the circulation was cut off. Alex sat on the couch, waiting. Wiggled on the couch was a better description, she could hardly sit still, every once in a while she would scratch, her arm, her leg, her shoulder, her stomach, just little scratches at first. Dean watched her but still jerked when she finally jumped off the couch and started pacing around.

"You okay?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. Alex glances over at him quickly, for a second he could have sworn he saw her eyes flash at him, mirrors, like dog eyes.

"No, it feels like I've got ants crawling on me. Everything is itchy. I think I better head to the room." Alex starts out the living room door then pauses and turns back to Dean.

"Come with me? Just for a little while..."her voice fades out and she waits watching him. He can feel her reading his face, his body language, her eyes bore into his soul and exposes everything. Suddenly she spins on her heel and without another word she disappears out of the room.

"Dean..." Bobby starts from the safety of his desk.

"Don't Bobby. Don't tell me it's going to be okay. It's not." He snaps, he grabs the bottle on the table and tops up his glass, and then swallows half. It burns down his throat and hits the bottom of his gut like a lump of hot coal. It churns around a bit, and then spreads heat out across his body, then numbs it. For a second there is no itching and no hurt.

"I wasn't, smart ass. I was going to tell you not to give up on her."

"I'm not giving up on anything." Dean jumps up off the couch and starts pacing around the room. He takes another drink, numb again. Bobby watches him and doesn't say anything, Dean waits for his words of wisdom and then glares at him.

"Well, go ahead say it. You're thinking something, might as well say it." Dean snarls.

"Dean, being with someone means being with them through everything, even the crappy stuff. Both of you are so damned concerned with being tough and protecting each other that you're getting further and further apart."

Dean frowns at him, and then starts to take another drink. He looks at the glass and then sits it down, the novelties worn off and it's looking pretty stupid.

"So what am I suppose to do. Go cry on her shoulder?" Bobby raises her eyebrows at him, and looks at him, waiting.

"Seriously? Bobby I don't cry, I don't have time for it anymore. It's freakin' waste of time and energy. " Dean paces around the room, and then runs his hands through his hair. Bobby watches him, then sighs and looks down at his book. He flips a page over and glances up at Dean, who is still pacing.

"Then you don't deserve her at all. If she's not worth crying over then she's not worth a damned thing to you, and if that's what you think of her then...get the hell out." Bobby says softly. He watches Dean for a second, waiting to see if it's sinking in. Dean leans on the arm of the couch for a second, when he finally speaks his voice cracks with emotion.

"Bobby I'm afraid if I start I'll never stop."

"But at least you'll be doing it together." Dean wilts a little, then drags himself to his feet and disappears out the door.

The walk down the basement stairs feels like forever. _The descent to hell. _ He thinks, his boots squeak on the last step, but are silent across the cement floor. His hand is on the panic room door handle before he hears it. Soft, sobbing, Alex inside the metal box, sobbing her heart out. Alone. He imagines her inside, sitting against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest. No, she's lying on the mattress, clutching her pillow. He opens the door wondering which one it will be. The mattress wins. Alex is curled up on her side, sobbing into his pillow. The door bangs a bit when he swings it shut and she stops, and then sniffs. She wiggles and tries to wipe her face off with her sleeve, Dean grabs a roll of toilet paper and kneels down beside her and holds it out. Alex sits up and takes it and blows her nose.

"Sorry." She whispers, "It's all just kinda catching up with me, you know?" Dean nods, he looks around the room trying to figure out what to say next but it hurts too much. He sits down beside her and watches her try to get a grip on herself.

"Don't." He whispers, "Don't hide from me. You don't have to be this rock. Rocks are emotionless things. I don't want a rock. I want my Alex." His voice cracks on the last sentence and the tears he was desperately trying to hold back sneak out. He can feel them sneak out and run down his cheek. It makes him feel worse, and better at the same time. Embarrassed he looks away from her and tries to clear his throat, tries to get a grip.

"That goes both ways." Alex chokes, then slides her hand over his face and pulls it back to look at her. Another set of tears somehow manages to sneak out and run down his cheeks, it's enough to set Alex off again. She slides her arms around him and sobs into his chest. He holds her close and lets the tears come, sliding down his face and into her hair.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

It's dark out, the silver moonlight filters through the ceiling fan and shines a soft beam down on the floor. Every once in a while a moonbeam dances past and through the light, and then disappears out into the darkness. If he focuses, he can actually follow it into the darkness, its faint but he can still see it there, floating around, suspended in time.

Human eyes were a little odd and hard to get accustomed to, inconvenient at most, especially when you were accustomed to viewing the world on a much larger scale. He never really explained to Dean exactly why angels needed human forms, he let him assume it was simply so humans could see and communicate with them. It was an easy explanation, and Dean didn't seem to question it further so it was mutually acceptable for them both to leave it at that. The fact was it was much easier for an angel to see the world they were interacting with when they were in a vessel. Angel eyes had a tendency to see a soul, not the body, so it was a little easier to read emotions and faces if you could see them. It was also easier to block a blow from a demon possessed human if you weren't distracted by its true form.

The moon beam had danced far enough away so that even angel-enhanced vision couldn't see it, so he turned back to his charge. The angel network was humming with activity and he had to take a moment to filter and tune before he could find the voices he was looking for. He watched the sleeping Dean and Alex, and then looked deeper, careful not to probe too deep and hurt them. The rumours were true, the vessels were infected, dangerously infected, and there was something else too.

He listened a moment, then sighed to himself. He tuned in carefully and relayed the information they needed at the lowest frequency he could manage. It wouldn't be good if the entire network caught the news. He waited a second, the reply came swift and hard, it buzzed in his head to the point it almost hurt and he pressed his palm to his temple for a second till he got it under control. He hesitated for a second, then took a breath and weighed the issue. He knew Dean, he knew him better than anyone. He could read his every emotion, knew his every thought, knew his hopes, his fears, what he loved, what he hated. If he did this and didn't tell Dean he would be royally pissed. He smiled at the term 'royally pissed' he didn't have a clue what it meant but remembered the time Dean had yelled it at Sam and he could feel the emotion roll off him in waves, so he knew it wasn't at all good.

"Dean." His voice resonated at the best of times, but confined in the metal room it rolled around like a thunder clap. Dean jumped about four feet off the mattress and immediately came up off it in a fighting stance, a knife firmly in his hand. Cass stepped back when Dean's eyes mirrored at him, suddenly off guard. The infection was much worse than they had anticipated. Alex had rolled off the mattress and also jumped to her feet oblivious to the fact she was quite naked, but had immediately dropped into a half crouch. She was snarling at him, teeth bared, her eyes glowing in the dark. She was terrifying and magnificent at the same time, her naked skin glowed with life, her eyes flashed death, Cass was mesmerised.

"Alex! Stop!" Dean yells, his full attention turned to her. She shifts her weight subtly, enough for Dean to notice; he lunges at her and grabs her seconds before she can launch herself at the angel. Alex struggles in his arms for a second, then falls still, her body droops, her eyes roll back, unconscious. Cass stands beside her, a guilty look on his face; he shrugs at Dean's glare and lowers his fingers.

"I did not want her to hurt herself." the angel explains. Dean carefully lowers Alex down onto the mattress, then grabs the blankets and covers her up. He turns back to the angel who is still looking rather intently at her.

"Ahhh, excuse me, my eyes are here." He growls, gesturing to his face. Cass jerks his gaze away from Alex and to Dean, a blank expression on his face.

"Ahhh sorry it is my first time." Cass mumbles under his breath. Dean's eyebrows pop up a little and he glances down at Alex, then back up to Cass.

"Your first time what? Seeing a naked woman? You're telling me that with all your travelling and end of times crap you never even bothered to seek a peek? You have got to be kidding me! And stop looking at my girlfriend!" Cass tries hard not to smile but Dean's misinterpretation of his interest is quite amusing, to say the least.

"Dean, I meant her condition. She is positively glowing, radiant. Beautiful." He murmurs, looking at her again. Dean huffs and grabs his pants and tugs them on, glaring at an oblivious Cass.

"What are you doing here? I though all you angels had vacated back to heaven to clean up?" Cass pulls his eyes away from Alex and looks at Dean, then smiles an understanding smile.

"I am still working. Rumours reached us that there was a problem and since I am your angel I was sent to investigate. I see the rumours were true." Dean glances around the room, then at Cass and frowns.

"You heard a rumour? What rumour? And if you're asking me to go hunt something the answer is no. I've got bigger problems right now." Cass smiles at Dean and then shakes his head; he kneels down and strokes Alex's hair back off her face.

"The werewolf venom." Dean frowns and watches him with Alex. If any other person had so much as looked at her he would have popped them one, but seeing her with Cass was strangely comforting.

"Great so you know about the problem I've got. So tell me the freakin' rumour and beat it." Cass smiles and runs his fingers though her hair then stands up and shoves his hand in his pockets. He cocks his head off to the side and looks at Dean.

"That is both the rumour and the problem I've come about." Dean frowns and looks at him, then looks down at Alex. He glares at Cass, suspicious.

"Why would you care about werewolf venom? Your only concerns are always angels and battles to be fought and the end of the world crap. Why would you be here now?" Cass smiles at Dean and steps closer to him.

"Dean, you think so little of yourself, but you're one of a few, very important humans left in the world, both you and Alex." Dean frowns, still suspicious and glances over to Alex, then back to Cass.

"I don't like the sound of that. Are you talking hunters? Cause there's lots of us around...I mean not as many since the whole apocalypse thing..." Dean's voice fades out waiting for Cass to answer.

"Vessels Dean, you are both vessels. When it comes to angels and battles to be fought and the end of the world crap... you are the most important thing of all. There are less than a dozen of you left in the world right now. Your numbers have never been lower. I am under strict instruction to make sure you all survive...at any cost." Dean pauses, absorbing the information Cass has just told him. His head spins with the implication of it all. _Alex is going to freak._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Dean sits on the bench, his head in his hand; he rubs his face and then glances over to Castiel who sits next to him.

"So you're telling me that my mother was a vessel also, and it takes two vessels to create a new vessel. So if two vessels never meet and ..." Dean gestures with his hands to mean have sex, Cass frowns, not understanding.

"Do you mean procreate?" he asks. Dean nods and sits back on the bench and looks at him.

"Yes, procreate. So you're telling me one vessel alone doesn't create another vessel." Cass nods his head at Dean and smiles patiently.

"Why do you think it was such a big deal to get your mother and father together? It was order from the highest levels of heaven that the two should be joined. If it were the case that it took only you then we would not have let you enjoy relations with so many women. Vessels must be chosen carefully." Dean looks at Cass for a long minute processing the information he's just been given.

"Let me? Alright I'm just going to leave that one alone." Cass frowns at Dean not understanding. Dean leans back against the wall behind him and sighs.

"Why do you need vessels anyway, it's over we won."

"It is never over. This is not the first time this battle was fought, and it will not be the last. That is why we are so determined to make sure the vessels proliferate. We cannot allow the numbers to fall any lower than they are now." Dean jerks up and stares at Cass.

"What do you mean this isn't the last? You mean this is going to happen again? What the hell Cass! You know what he's going to do to get out, why would you let it happen again?" Dean jumps up and paces around the room, mad as hell at the angel.

"Dean, there are a thousand ways to free Lucifer from the pit. We can't stop them all." Dean stops pacing and stands over the still sleeping Alex and watches her sleep. He leans down and tucks the blankets around her shoulders. She shifts a little and sighs in her sleep and smiles, he smiles at her. _No nightmares tonight._ He thinks and runs his fingers down her cheek.

"Are you here to save her?"

"And the baby, yes." Dean sucks in his breath and blinks, and then glances over at Cass.

"So she is pregnant." Cass nods his head and stands up and walks over to stand beside Dean. Dean stands up and watches his face, there is always something bad coming. Something good usually means something bad too, the something bad is his child is a vessel.

"I don't want my child to be a vessel. I don't want to have to teach it about monsters under the bed and Lucifer and God and the apocalypse. We'll always be looking over our shoulders waiting for a demon or one of your renegade angels to take us all out. What the hell kind of life is that?" Cass watches Dean and then glances down at Alex; he sighs and then looks hard at Dean.

"It is true. There will be more things for you to look out for, but when and if the time ever comes then we will be here to protect you and keep you safe. Dean, we have not walked among you for 1200 years, we let the bloodline continue, always watching, protecting, waiting. Your child or your child's children might never know, never see a demon or an angel. Not till we need them." Dean shakes his head at the idea and then looks back down at Alex.

"Wake her Cass. We need to tell her what's going on. "Cass looks closely at Dean, and then frowns. He does a series of quick scenario in his head; there is only one real safe way to do this.

"I do not think that's a good idea. I think you should let me heal her now, while she's sleeping. I need to control myself, I have to be very careful not to inflict harm on the child and I don't know if I can do that while she's fighting me." Dean sighs and rubs his face, then glances down at Alex. He suddenly pins Cass to the spot with a glare.

"So are you telling me you're never done this before?" Cass shakes his head and shrugs at Dean.

"I told you, I've never really even seen a woman in her condition." Dean groans faintly and rubs his head.

"Ohh geeze Cass, I though you meant infected with werewolf venom, not pregnant. How could you not ever see a pregnant woman? There freakin' everywhere sometimes. It's like a plague in the spring..." Dean's voice fades away and he looks down at Alex. Cass raises his eyebrows at Dean.

"Ahhh Dean you are talking about Alex here. I do not think she would like to be referred to as a plague." Dean grumbles under his breath and kneels down beside her, watches her. Panic rises to the surface and he tries to beat it down, a dozen different scenes run through his head, _what if Cass goes too hard and hurts her? what if it damages the baby? should I wake her up and tell her? If I don't tell her about vessels and all this crap will she forgive me? _

"Fine, should I hold her down or anything?" He whispers, then glances over to the angel. Cass shakes his head and gestures to Dean.

"Why don't you let me fix you first, it will give me an idea as to how much effort I'll need." Dean nods and stands up and faces Cass, then swallows hard and nods.

"Ya, okay, good idea. But if you fry my brains I'll kill you. And if you fry my brains there is no way in hell I want you to touch Alex. Right?" Cass nods, Dean immediately knows he's lying his ass off but he accepts it anyway and braces himself.

"Are you ready?" Cass asks jerking his chin at Dean. Dean nods, his teeth gritted together, ready for pain. Cass reaches out and places his left palm against Dean's chest over his heart, then grabs his right wrist. Cass concentrates and a warm yellow glow spreads from his palm into Dean's chest Almost immediately Dean jerks and gasps as black venom rises to the surface to his skin and begins to run down his arm and into Cass's fist. Dean twitches and gasps as the golden light covers him completely. Cass suddenly jerks his hand away from Dean's wrist and the black venom is stripped away, Cass fries it in his palm. Dean collapses on one knee on the floor gasping for breath.

"There is no freakin' way she's gonna sleep through that!" Cass shakes his shoulders a bit, then stretches his neck and shoulders out. He reaches down and helps Dean back to his feet.

"How do you feel?" Cass asks.

"Like I've got one freakin' bad sunburn." Dean says stretching out his arms and shoulders. Cass hums a little to himself and moves over closer to Alex and watches her sleep.

"Your right. I will partially wake her, you can explain what it is we are doing and then we will heal her. I fear if I proceed without preparing her it will put her into shock." Cass kneels down beside Alex and waits for Dean who joins him on the other side. Cass runs one finger down her bare arm and then leans back and waits. Alex shifts, and then slowly opens her eyes; she has trouble focusing on Dean but jumps and snarls faintly when she sees Cass beside her.

"Alex hon, it's okay. He's here to help. His name is Cass and he's an angel. Remember I told you about Cass and the other angels?" Alex moans faintly and nods her head at him. Dean glances over to Cass and swallows.

"He's going to try to heal you okay? It's gonna tingle and sting a bit but you have to let him do it okay? Don't fight him hon, okay? Just hold as still as you can." Alex groans and nods from the bed, Dean locks eyes with Cass across her and waits.

Cass swallows and nods, and then places his hand over Alex's heart and grabs her wrist. Alex gasps and jerks when the first wave of light hits her, Dean winces and watches as it moves through her, Cass grits his teeth as more and more black venom comes to the surface and bubbles into his fist. Alex gasps and twitches under him, her eyes roll back. The boiling black mass as completely covered Cass's fist and swirls around his wrist.

"Cass?" Dean growls, panic rises, threaten to take over as Alex gasps and jerks harder.

"Cass don't hurt them!" Suddenly Cass jerks his hand off her wrist and the black bubbling venom explodes in a burst of light. Alex jerks and gasps for breath, she pants for breath and shivers. Dean sighs in relief and then gathers her into his arms. She weakly wraps her arms around him and buries her face in his chest. Dean glances over to his angel who is still kneeling on the mattress beside them.

"Are you okay, Cass?" Cass nods and jerks his chin at Alex.

"How does she feel?" Dean glances down at her and brushes the hair away from her face.

"Hey, how do you feel? Do you feel like hulking out on me?" Alex shakes her head no against his chest, and then glances over at Cass.

"Cass. Is this your angel you keep telling me about?" Dean kisses the top of her head and smiles.

"Yep, and you thought I was a nutbar didn't you?" Alex laughs faintly against his chest, then shifts against him and pushes herself into a sitting position. She weakly holds out her hand to the angel and smiles.

"Nice to meet you, finally. Dean tells me you're a douche bag sometimes but I'll reserve judgement till I see it for myself." Cass laughs and shakes her hand, then holds it for a minute and looks deep into her eyes.

"It is very nice to meet you Alexis Colville; you are a very special person to us." Alex glances over to Dean, and then smiles back at Cass; she squeezes his hand before he can release it.

"I don't know if I like that or not, but I know I will be eternally grateful for what you just did. If I can do anything for you at all...even me being just a silly human and all..." Cass smiles a huge grin at her and stands up. He steps back a bit and shoves his hands in his trench coat, then twists his head to one side and looks at them both.

"You are already doing so much for us. More than you realize." The angel pauses for a second and looks at the floor, the angel network is buzzing in his head again and he relays the message, and then smiles to himself at the reply.

"Oh and Dean, Alex. It's a boy, and he's going to be a handful." Cass disappears in front of them, Alex's mouth drops open a bit and she turns to Dean.

"Was he serious?" Dean bursts into a stupid looking silly grin, and manages to nod his head at her. Alex's hand automatically slides to her stomach and rests there; she blinks back tears and smiles to herself. Suddenly she looks at Dean and frowns.

"What did he mean, 'We are already doing so much for them?' The baby's okay right? He didn't do anything to hurt it." Dean shifts on the mattress and then pulls off his jeans and slides under the blankets with her, then pulls her into his chest and wraps his arms around her.

"I told you how Sam and I were vessels right?..."

THE END

_If you enjoyed reading about Alex and Dean you should to my other story "Spill No Blood' and read how they met; and if you really like them then keep reading! There is an entire season unrolling starting with #1 Spill No Blood, #2 Alex in Wonderland, #3 Something to Give Thanks For, #4 Wine, Women & Song, #5 Nasty Little Vixen, #6 Spring Fever, #7 Vacation from Hell, #8 (Possible title) The Reconciliation, #9 Woman Who Laughs, #10 Psalms 19:3. This is a tentative list and may be expanded as the inspiration hits so keep tuned into Dragonladylewis for updates._


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